


Alone Together

by redhoodiee



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Baby Yoda - Freeform, Dick is clueless, Fluff, Getting Together, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21728293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redhoodiee/pseuds/redhoodiee
Summary: Dick is no stranger to touch. But, he could admit that if he were asked to hug a feral dog he’d probably hesitate before opting for a fluffy cat instead.Yet, said dog is sitting closer to him than ever before, and Dick is within biting distance.And yeah, maybe this dog is less feral than he first thought, and maybe, just maybe, Dick is starting to like him, flees and all.(Or, Dick is clueless and Baby Yoda saves the day.)
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 9
Kudos: 301





	Alone Together

There’s a thigh right against his thigh. Holy crap, his leg might combust into flames if this keeps up.

Dick is no stranger to touch. He’s far from his teenage days of skirting around touch as he was raised to.  _ All in a day’s work, Robin _ . No, that philosophy was over now. Life’s too short to keep living like seeing the end of every mission wasn’t a huge accomplishment. Surviving the mission, patrol, or even just seeing someone who he hasn’t in a while warrants at least a hug. A hug to know that person is still alive, still with him, hasn’t abandoned him. Does this sentiment go for the bad guys, too? Well, one time he high-fived Deathstroke, but that’s as far as the mercenary would ever let him go. Besides, he could admit that if he were asked to hug a feral dog he’d probably hesitate before opting for a fluffy cat instead.

Yet, said dog is sitting closer to him than ever before, and Dick is within biting distance.

And yeah, maybe this dog is less feral than he first thought, and maybe, just maybe, Dick is starting to like him, flees and all.

Jason is unpredictable at the best of times, but Dick always enjoyed a gamble. For a while, Jason didn’t come around a lot. But when he was there, he’d leave as soon as things were wrapped up. Dick couldn’t so much as smile at him for a job well done, vanishing into the night like an apparition, shadow and all.

But now they’re seated next to each other and their thighs are touching. It hadn’t started that way either. Dick sat beside Jason to watch the basketball game on TV, but Jason is the one who spread his legs just wide enough that their legs would meet.

Boy he’s sweating. The thought of Jason catching on because of the proximity makes him sweat even more.  _ Crap.  _ He can remember a time not too long ago when they were almost this close. They were on a rooftop as a gun was shoved into Nightwing’s face. He had been trying to ask what happened during a mishap with the mission, but all he got was a barrel in the face with a twitchy trigger finger. Oh, how times have changed.

After that night, he hadn't heard much from Jason. In fact, none of them had. He did his own thing and Dick was busy minding his city, the Titans, and just about every other mess his family couldn’t quite clean up. It was demanding, but it kept him occupied. At least making his rounds ensured he knew everyone he loved was still alive and kicking.

Jason’s absence stretched on until a bat-shaped light shined into the sky a few weeks later, hailing all the bats to come home to prevent a hostile invasion from a very large underground villain community.

So, once all the kicking-ass and taking-names was over, everyone rounded up for Dick’s favorite part: the post-patrol meal.

Dick walked behind the group, minding each head as they strolled toward their destination. Damian was silent by his side, and he watched as the others talked lightly. But he spotted a taller head at the front of the crowd talking to Tim, and he had to do a double take to make sure the shadows of Gotham weren’t messing with his head.

He hadn’t expected Jason to stick around, but he was quietly conversing with Tim as the flock made their way to a food cart over on 83rd. He couldn’t help but notice that the tension that was ever present in Jason’s shoulders was gone as he spoke to Tim about an upgrade he had made into his helmet. In fact, if he hadn’t had the helmet on, Dick would put money down that at least one smile had slipped onto his face as Tim recommended a space invaders addition to the retina display. 

Tim had mentioned meeting with Jason before, whether it be for quick intel or catching up over a coffee. He had said it so nonchalantly, too, that Dick began to wonder just how out of touch he was with his younger brother. He’s ashamed to admit it, but Dick wondered if Jason was using Tim for something greater, something that may end up hurting him or the family in the process.

Once the food had been purchased, Tim started a conversation with Cass, Steph began sending Damian her idea of “dank memes,” and Duke saluted them before taking off. That left Dick parked on a bench right beside the Red Hood himself.

What he hadn’t expected was for Jason to speak up as he sat down.

“Pretty nice shiner you’ve got there,” he said, pointing to his own helmet as reference. Dick had been ambushed at one point and a lucky bastard got in a nasty blow to his upper cheek. The guy was KO’d within the same second.

“Bet you I could do one better.” Jason continued as he pulled off his helmet. Dick found it odd he wasn’t wearing his usual domino underneath, but quickly ignored the thought as a purple ring around Jason’s eye caught his attention.

“Damn, Jay, you could star in the next live adaptation of 101 Dalmatians with that thing.”

“Just call me Patch.”

And just like that, Dick had somehow befriended the feral dog.

“He’s changed,” Roy said on a mission only a week after the encounter. “He doesn’t see it that way, the stubborn asshat that he is, but he has.”

Dick dodged a kick and landed a blow to his assailant’s chest, pushing him several feet away. “He seems better.”

Roy hummed in agreement as he lined an arrow up with a guy hiding in the rafters.  _ Dwing _ , the arrow launched off the bow, and a shriek rang out as it sunk into the man’s shin.

Dick knocked out the man in front of him before looking to Roy. “I’m glad.”

“Me too. I think he’s figuring out that just because he was alone most of his life doesn’t mean he has to be alone forever.”

The thought of being alone always made Dick uneasy. He’d lost too much to embrace being alone anymore. He ran himself ragged, helping whoever came to his doorstep, to avoid the shadows on the walls that threatened to turn him mad. The second he was called to a mission, no matter what was going on in Dick Grayson’s life, he took it. It was all business and tactics, but at the end of the day he wasn’t alone. 

No one deserved loneliness, especially someone like Jason. Thinking about Jason’s life before the Joker always left a sour taste in his mouth. Jason had been alone for too long, and when he got a second chance at family, Dick turned his back on him because of his own shit with Bruce. He never deserved that. 

Jason died alone, too. Dick can’t even think about that one.

But, he could tell Jason was making bounds with his new team. They had made headlines for saving a village in Qurac only a few days earlier, and under the headline Jason seemed to be embracing both Artemis and Bizzaro, although the former didn’t seem to look too thrilled in the photo.

Then he received the call to mission at a traveling circus. Of course he was going to check it out–the promise of fire eaters and exotic dancers and wild animals of all types called to him, the child raised under the red and white stripes of a circus tent.

What he hadn’t expected was Jason and his ragtag team needing help. Jason never reached out for help. If things were as they were a few months ago, he presumed Jason would have asked Tim for help before his predecessor. The fact that he summoned Dick set warning bells off in his head, and Dick did something he never did.

He turned his back. 

He  _ really _ hadn’t been expecting to hear Jason admit that he needed his help.

“Your face healed up pretty well,” Jason said as Bizarro and Artemis left their trailer.

“I can say the same about yours.”

Jason smirked.

“So, your new team seems fun.”

“They’re definitely interesting.”

“You ever miss Roy’s stupid antics?”

“Nope. Hope you’re having fun with him,” Jason’s smile betrayed his words.

“He’s certainly something,” Dick smiled. “I like Artemis, she reminds me a lot of Diana.” Dick grabbed his soda and sat on the couch. “I bet your nerd heart thrives at the thought of teaming up with an Amazon.”

Dick fondly remembered the story Bruce told him about Jason’s first meeting with Wonder Woman. According to legend, Jason spent the whole day fixing himself up, and was incredibly mature throughout the entire meeting. Then she’d let him touch the lasso and he wouldn’t shut up about how amazing the Amazons were. Something like The Amazons could take the Justice League easily and that Jason would be more than willing to help.

He also distinctly remembers Jason bragging to him on the rare occasion they saw one another back then about how he had managed to save Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman from Mongul and the Black Mercy. He had beamed while describing how Diana had thanked him for his courage. It was his single most proud moment of his life.

Jason’s face fell into his hand. “Don’t let her hear you say that. She’s pompous enough as is.” He sat beside Dick, taking a swig of his own drink. “But yeah, it’s pretty damn cool. Gotta love a woman who could kick your ass.”

“When Donna had joined the Teen Titans back in the day I had nearly given up my spot as leader for her. I didn’t think I could go toe to toe with an Amazon.”

“Bat training is better than you’d expect.”

“Amen.”

Dick took another sip in lieu of the silence.

As much as Dick’s memories guided him, the man beside him still felt like a stranger. In place of the mouthy little Robin he once knew was this adult that seemed to know a lot about him, while Dick barely knew anything at all about him. He cursed himself for relying on memories that Jason had probably discarded by now as something of the past. 

That didn’t mean he didn’t want to extend an olive branch.

“So, you finally managed to find your way to the circus life.”

“I hear it’s not too bad, all things considered.”

“All things?”

“You know, snapping wires, ties to centuries-old cult groups, trafficking, the overall animal abuse...”

Roy was right, Jason was still the same ass he’d always been. 

Dick sighed, “And despite all that, it was still the greatest place to grow up in.”

“I’d have taken that over Crime Alley any day.”

Dick looked to Jason at that. Really looked. He had grown so much since he’d died.  _ God,  _ what a morbid thought. His face was longer, his nose more pronounced and showing signs of having been broken several times before. There was a scar across his left eyebrow that stopped just before touching his eye. And the white of his hair was still something Dick was getting used to.

This was a man who had been through the wringer, and Dick knew he shouldn’t be alone. That he wasn’t alone anymore.

“We all grew up in places we probably shouldn’t of,” Dick said.

“You mean with a druggie mom and homeless? Or up on rooftops like some sort of maniac?”

Jason’s humor was so biting, Dick forgot how bruising it could be.

“I was referring to the before-capes time of our lives, but yeah, both were just as strange.”

Jason looked at him, but Dick couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with him. He would have felt like a fraud, trying to connect with someone who, by his standards, had it so much worse than himself.

“Think you could ever walk away and live like a civilian?” Jason finally said.

“Not a chance.”

Jason smirked, “Yeah, me neither.”

That night when Dick went to sleep, he felt eyes on him as he drifted off, dreaming of high wires and robins.

The mission went well, to the point where Dick was willing to work with Jason again should he ever need to lend a helping hand. Plus, he could be an asset to the Titans if he ever needed another place to go. Dick hoped having Roy there would be incentive enough for Jason to at least think about working with them.

Two weeks later there was a knock on his window right before he was headed on patrol. He cursed. How many times had he told his siblings to shoot him a text before scaring the daylights out of him for no reason? 

He threw a robe over his Nightwing uniform and flung open the curtain to see Red Hood. His heart skipped a beat. He’d been meaning to make contact with him following their stunt with the circus, but this wasn’t what he was expecting for their first meet up since then. The younger was sitting on his fire escape with half his helmet shattered, but the red cascading down his face made up for the lack of covering. With his form leaning so heavily against the railings, Dick couldn’t even tell if he was still conscious or not.

Turns out he was. As Dick gathered medical supplies, Jason’s boyish charm overtook him as he described his success that night in destroying one of Black Mask’s new outposts, and the ensuing fight he hadn’t quite expected. 

“You could’ve called me.”

“I had it covered.”

“Where was your team?”

Silence.

As Dick patched him up, the needle of the stitches going in and out of Jason’s skull, his eyes wandered to his face, and the light dusting of scruff along Jason’s cheek. This was the closest the two had been since  _ before _ , and Dick was able to notice that the birthmark Jason had on his cheek was now masked by his beard. He fought the inexplicable feeling to abandon his work, scoop the man up in a hug and bless every deity for even allowing Jason to walk the earth with them again.

As Dick got to work on setting a makeshift cast for his wrist, Jason spoke of old times, like the day Alfred had to run after Ace in the yard and the cookies he had been making caught on fire. The manor had smelled of smoke for weeks and Jason teased the man endlessly for it.

Dick remembered that story. He remembered Alfred dabbing a tear with his handkerchief as he recalled how Jason had taken his hand and told him they were just cookies, and that they were all alright. The air was tight that day, the day Dick had finally went to the manor after hearing about Jason’s death.

And here Jason was, laughing about it like he and Dick were still kids, eyes mulling over the high ceilings of the manor to figure out which chandeliers were the best for swinging across.

He was gone when Dick woke up in the morning.

There was no hide nor hair of Jason until two nights later when he knocked on Dick’s front door this time clad in sweatpants and a Wonder Woman t-shirt, burritos in hand.

“Figured I owed you for bleeding out on your carpet.”

Dick wasn’t going to say no to free food, but “Honestly, your stories were enough. I particularly liked the one of when Roy nearly roasted you alive while you were showering.”

“God, I’ve gotta learn to shut my mouth when I’m that concussed.” Jason placed the burritos on the table and sat on the couch. “But my ass nearly turned into a burnt marshmallow that day.”

“What a tragedy that would’ve been.”

_ If lightning could strike me right now, that’d be great. Shazam, where you at? _

What in God’s name was he thinking, saying something like that to Jason? Yeah, he had noticed how nicely defined Jason’s thighs had become over the years, and his ass managed to catch some of that tone, but it wasn’t something you should say to your kinda-not-estranged-half brother, no matter how nice those gray sweats looked on him.

“If it had been your ass, I think the entire superhero and villain community would be up in arms.”

And now wasn’t that just another layer Dick wasn’t ready for. He assumed that was a compliment, or at least somewhat of a compliment, but he couldn’t be too sure.

“I’m just glad no one needed to skin graft your ass.”

“Gross, Dickie, I’m eating.”

Dick nudged his shoulder and took a bite of his own burrito, moaning in ecstasy as he realized just what Jason had brought over.

“Is this a Bubba’s burrito?”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “You think I’d come with anything less than that? I’m offended.”

Dick shook his head. “I just haven’t had one in a while. I’m gonna need to do at least three rounds of patrol tonight to burn this off.” The burrito was not one of Mexican origins. Instead, Bubba’s used traditional American comfort food and wrapped it all up inside a calorie-filled burrito. This one had chicken tenders, french fries, melted cheese, and bacon bits. Jason must’ve really wanted to pay him back. Bubba’s was all the way across town, 30 minutes by car, 25 by rooftop. And that’s just one way.

“Just enjoy it. It’s the least I could do.”

Dick clicked on the TV and put on reruns of Seinfeld in the background. “So, how you feeling since I last saw you?”

Jason held up his wrist, showing off his hard cast. Somehow, Dick had completely missed it. “This thing comes in a few weeks, and the concussion went away pretty fast. I barely remember dragging my ass over here that night.”

“In your defense, you had a really nasty gash on your head, and were probably experiencing blood loss and a concussion. I’m glad you came knocking.”

“Yeah, well, thanks I guess. Who knows who would’ve found me if I didn’t drop by here.”

Dick looked over from his meal at that. “What about your team?”

He watched as Jason’s eyes looked down and his shoulders slouched just the slightest.

“The Outlaws are kinda in limbo right now.”

“Why? What happened?”

“You know how teams go better than anyone. Sometimes shit doesn’t work out.”

Something about that didn’t sound right. From his own interactions with the team, Bizarro and Artemis were just as fond of Jason as he was of them. If anything, he could imagine Artemis going off on her own, but she seemed to have as much invested in the team as anyone else. Bizarro though, he couldn’t imagine him running off on his own. Jason would be destroyed.

“You know, if you’re trying to lie, you probably shouldn’t with someone who’s been a bat and a cop.”

When Jason looked over to him he expected that little smirk he gets when he’s bested, but instead his face was contorted in pain.

“I...I don’t know where they are.”

“What?” How could that be? They wouldn’t just up and leave Jason without a trace, would they? No, Dick had more faith in them, in  _ Jason _ , than that.

Jason sighed, “Our base with everything in it, including them both, vanished. I’ve tried everything to find them, but there’s not one trace or lead or even a whisper of anything anywhere.”

Dick put his burrito down and turned to look at him. “Who have you brought in to help with this?”

“No one. And don’t think that you need to help because I’ve done everything in my power to find them and can’t. No one can, so just enjoy your burrito and don’t worry about it.” There he goes, getting all defensive, just like Dick knew he would.

“You don’t think an extra hand could-”

“Dick, I don’t wanna talk about it. Just shut up and eat.”

Jason not even rising to the bait of a fight? Not that Dick was trying to fight, he just wanted to help. But, he was still surprised. If Jason’s team was gone, that means he’d been alone for, God, he didn’t even know how long they’d been missing. And from what he could tell the night Jason came over, they’d been missing then, too. 

His appetite was thrown out the door at this point. One of their own had been alone all this time, and no one was even helping him with it. He vaguely wondered if Tim had known and was looking into it. But then again, if Jason were going to recruit anyone to help, it’d more than likely be the family super genius. Feeling defeated, Dick wrapped up the rest of his burrito and put on a Hallmark movie to change the mood.

Nightwing and Red Hood crossed paths a lot after that night. At first Dick was sure it was a coincidence, but then he found himself in Hood’s territory more often than not, and vice versa.

“What do you mean you haven’t seen The Mandalorian?”

“I don’t have Disney+! And I’ve been a little busy!”

Nightwing flipped over one assailant, kicking him in the back of the head in the process and electrocuting the next with escrima sticks before sticking the landing.

“Bizzaro love Baby Yoda!”

“Come on, even Biz is watching it and he was stuck in another dimension for months!” Red Hood fired two shots before pistol whipping another thug and swiping the legs out from him to make the fall harder.

“I must agree with these two. The cinematography alone is worthy of viewing, Nightwing.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll come to the Outlaw base and use your account to watch it.”

“Yes! Blue him come visit!”

The last of the thugs were down for the count, and the group continued further. He let Hood lead inside, noticing the pep in his step by having his team back behind him. It was all the team, Dick was just lucky to be brought along.

Hood motioned the plan to them, and they silently split up. Hood stalked forward, gaining the attention of the new villain of the week, and catching the long winded villain monologue as the rest of them silently took out the army.

Dick smiled to himself as Jason’s cockiness got the best of him. It reminded him of the patrols they took when they were both trying to find their footing in costumes that felt too heavy for their shoulders, overcompensating through puns and jokes.

“Blah, blah, blah, okay, guy. Listen, this is quite frankly adorable. But I can’t let you just sell this pink candy bullshit drug because you’ve got a dying mom in the hospital,” Jason said, stalking closer.

That last bit caught Dick off guard. He hadn’t known about that.

“How-how did you know about mother?” the villain asked, all steam from his voice lost.

“You didn’t think I’d come in here with my team and endanger them without getting the background first, right? I mean come on, James.”

“How do you know my name?”

Jason seemed to ignore his question. As Dick put the last guy down, he peeked over the railing from his position on the second floor. Jason was holstering his weapons and extending a hand toward the guy. Dick nearly fell over the side and exposed himself at this.

“We all go through tough times. You must really love your mom to do something like this for her.”

The man in front of Jason further deflated. “I do. She’s all I’ve got left.”

“You’re not married? A young, brazen man like yourself?”

“No, I’ve been taking care of Mama all my life.”

Jason sighed and removed his helmet. His mask was in place, and Dick realized that Jason must’ve planned all of this.

“I know what you’re going through, James, but there’s better ways to get money. Plus, there’s not much you can do for Mama if you’re in jail.”

“No, no, I need the money. It doesn’t matter if I’m there, she needs the money for her medicine!” The man, James, was getting hysterical, and Jason backed up.

“Okay, so what if it all works out? You’re gonna be in jail when she’s all better, then you’ll both be alone. Is that really what you want?”

“If it means Mama gets better, yes.”

Jason sighed. “I need you to tell me who you gave the drug to, and if they’ve begun selling it.”

“No, I can’t. You’ll mess everything up! Army!”

As the man waited for his army to barge through, Jason motioned up to where they were waiting in the wings.

“Alright gang, let’s go.”

At that, Dick flipped down as Bizarro flew down and Artemis came to stand beside her leader.

“There’s no army, James. This isn’t going to end how you want it to. Now, if you cooperate I’ll see what I can do for Mama. But nothing will get better if you don’t tell us everything we ask.”

The man looked to the lumbering forms of Bizarro and Artemis, then pointed to Dick. “He won’t kill me, he won’t let you.”

Dick cocked his head to the side. “No one said anything about killing. We just need to know what you know,” he aided.

At that, the man looked down, tears beginning to fall into his lap. His hiccups grew louder as he held his hands up in surrender. Jason nodded his head forward so Nightwing could cuff him, and as Dick approached with the shackles, he could hear the man praying through his tears.

“Please, please watch over her. God, please,” he whispered over and over. Dick placed a hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll make sure your mother gets what she needs. You just need to talk to us.”

The man nodded silently, allowing himself to be led toward the Red Hood for questioning.

When Dick got home that night, he received a Baby Yoda sipping tea meme with the caption, “When they sing like birds and you don’t even have to torture them.”

He smiled and slept well knowing Jason wasn’t spilling blood without reason.

The next day he found out that Jason had anonymously put $100,000 into the man’s bank account, and all traces of the new drug had been destroyed.

And only a few days after that, Dick found himself knocking on the front door of the Outlaws base with a text saying, “Get you ass over here and see baby yoda or I swear I’m replacing all your sugary cereals with Raisin Bran.”

The place was huge, and, well, floating above Gotham. He wondered if Bruce was okay with this, but if he hadn’t heard anything mentioned about it before, he doubted Bruce had an issue with it (surprisingly). In fact, Bruce hadn’t mentioned much about Jason or the Red Hood in a while.

Jason opened the door with a genuine smile, and to say it was infectious was an understatement. Dick felt himself light up at seeing Jason in those gray sweatpants again and the red hoodie he’d seen on him a few times. To see him so relaxed and at ease made Dick’s heart warm. It wasn’t before long that he could hear the voices of Artemis and Bizzaro somewhere else in the base and, was that a dog barking?

“Full house?” Dick asked as he took off his coat. Jason took it from his hand before he could even ask where to put it.

“Yeah, Bizarro’s about to walk the dog, and I think Artemis is getting ready to head back to Amazon for a wedding.”

Dick smiled at that. “I didn’t know you guys had a dog.”

Right then, a beautiful brown dog came bounding up to Dick. It must’ve been a mix of pitbull with another dog. As she lapped at Dick’s face, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Is it a boy or girl?”

“Girl.”

“Oh, what’s her name?”

“Dog,” Bizarro answered, flying into the room with the leash. Dick looked over to Jason with a raised eyebrow.

“What? I’m bad with names.”

Dick laughed, “Damn, Jay, not even Fluffy or something?”

“Does she look fluffy? No, she looks like a dog. Hence, Dog.”

“Dog am best dog ever.”

Bizarro hooked the leash to Dog’s collar and tugged her toward the door. She appeared to be smiling, tongue sticking out as she looked to Dick once more before being led out.

“Come on, TV’s in here. Want a beer or anything?”

“Beer sounds great.” Dick took in the huge amount of space this place had as they walked towards the back. Jason took them through the kitchen, which had high ceilings and stainless steel, well, everything. Alfred would very much appreciate the storage and size of this kitchen. As Jason grabbed the beer from the fridge, he noticed little photos that appeared to be from a photo booth taped to the door. It seemed Jason had found a family here.

Before Jason could lead them away, Dick paused to look at the pictures. It was the three of them somehow squished into a booth, and seemed to be during their mission at the circus. He didn’t remember a photo booth, but he wasn’t there for nearly as long as Jason and the others. It definitely wasn’t jealousy he was feeling at seeing their goofy faces in the final shot on one of the prints, with Artemis embracing Jason tightly as Biz put bunny ears behind his head.

“Wow, Jay, you give the easter bunny a run for his money.”

Without turning, Jason said, “If you don’t stop I’m gonna drink your beer.”

“I can always grab another one.”

“Refrigerator, lock.”

The fridge before him clicked before stating in a robotic voice, “Refrigerator locked.”

Jason looked over his shoulder, shit eating grin on his face. “You coming or not?”

Dick caught up to him and asked, “Why do you have a lock on your fridge?”

“You don’t wanna know how many answers that question has.”

And so, here they are, about two weeks after their Mandalorian binge, thigh to thigh as the Warriors crush the Nets with ease as Dick feels the weight of their situation weigh down on him.

He supposes he knows exactly how he got into this position, and feels a bit silly for having not seen their series of small serendipities sooner. 

_ “Kyrie throws a lob to Durrant. Up the court, oh my god, what a play!” _

Jason pushes forward, his elbows on his knees as he leans forward in interest. “Come on, you fuckers.”

Honestly, if you ask Dick, basketball is nowhere near as exciting as football. He’s been an avid Knights fan since coming to Gotham as a kid, and now he can’t seem to find any sport as exciting. Jason though, Jason has always been a basketball guy. He’d seen him sporting jerseys more than once as a kid.

_ “Kyrie brings it up the court, pass to DeAndre Jordan, corner, three, and it’s good!” _

“Yes!” Jason’s arms flail as he celebrates another score for the Nets, but in the process clocks Dick right in the nose. It’s nothing particularly hard, Dick has had far worse, but it does catch him off guard enough to gasp as Jason’s elbow makes contact with his schnoz.

“Oh, Jesus, are you alright?” Jason turns to him quickly, removing his thigh from Dick’s. That hurts more than his nose does.

Dick smiles, rubbing his face. “I’m fine, just caught me off guard.”

Then Jason does something unexpected. He takes Dick’s face in his hand and leans in close to inspect his nose. It shouldn’t make Dick’s breathing catch, and he swears his heart better knock it off before someone can hear it (Jason).

Jason’s green eyes are sharp and focused as he makes sure there’s no damage to Dick’s face. This close, Dick can see the edge of brownish-hazel around them, and the specks of blue toward the center. He can get lost in them, and when Jason backs up it’s all too soon. He wanted to drown in those lush eyes.

“As long as you’re okay. Here, let me grab you another beer to make up for it.”

When Jason releases his chin, all the warmth of him is gone, and Dick feels colder than he remembers feeling when he first sat down. He watches as Jason goes over to his fridge to grab another bottle, using the opener they’d left out to pop the cap off before bringing it over.

As Jason sits back down, they sit as close as they were before, but now there’s an arm behind Dick and his mind is short circuiting. Dick knows that move, Dick’s pulled that move with his other partners. But, but, Jason isn’t his partner. Jason is...Jason is…

He finds himself leaning into Jason’s warmth, feeling like puzzle pieces as he melts into his side. This is nice. This is Jason.

“You know,” he begins, “I’m glad you came by that night after that fight with Black Mask.”

He can’t see Jason’s face, but he can feel his body stiffen a bit. “What fight with Black Mask?”

“When you were bleeding and concussed on my fire escape. You brought burritos to thank me for helping you.”

Jason is silent. Dick counts his breaths as he waits for an answer, but nothing comes of it. He leans back upright to look at the man beside him.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Jason refuses to look at him. “Dickie, come on. I think you know what happened that night.”

Now Dick is even more confused. “No, you told me it was a fight you hadn’t been expecting.”

“Oh, it was expected alright.”

_ Huh? _ “Jason, what aren’t you telling me?”

And suddenly Jason is angered, and it’s all directed right at him. “Enough. I know you know. What are you trying to do, see if I need to talk about it, complain about my daddy issues to the golden boy?”

“What are you talking about? Does this have to do with Bruce?”

Jason stands up, circling the coffee table. His hands scrub the eyes Dick was just staring into less than a moment ago, and he turns to face Dick once again.

“What’s your angle here?”

“Jason, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Don’t act like Bruce didn’t tell you! Like you didn’t see everything!”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I kind of have my own things going here. I can’t keep up with everything. If Bruce needs to tell me something, he does.”

Jason looks dumbfounded, like Dick is speaking another language. “So you’re telling me you have no idea what actually happened that night?”

“All I know is that I was sleeping, woke up for patrol, changed, then you knocked on my window. That’s it.”

“Jesus, Dick. I tried to kill the Penguin and Bruce came to whip my ass after breaking his stupid rule.”

He shakes his head. How had Bruce not said anything? How had he not known that this was  _ that _ night?

“I...I had heard about that, but I didn’t know it was that night.”

“Yeah, well, now you know I guess.”

“So Bruce was the one who bashed your head open like that? And you came to me to fix you up?”

“Yes.”

Dick shuts his eyes. Once again his family has thrown him into a cyclone of their making, forcing him to clean up the whole mess. “Why did you try to kill the Penguin?”

“I found out he framed my father, which is why he went to jail and died. I couldn’t let that go, Dick. I couldn’t let him live after doing that to my father, no matter how fucked up he was.” The part about Bruce not doing the same for him went unsaid.

He scrubs his face with his hands, trying to process all of this.

“Look, I came over after to thank you, that was real. But I thought you knew. I was trying to apologize. Roy had just...you know...and I needed to try and make amends with someone.”

“You never needed to make amends with me. I never knew.”

“Yeah, well, I’d feel like a dick if I didn’t.”

He doesn’t rise to the bait on that one. Instead, he feels everything fall. Had this entire time with Jason just been his way of getting back into the fold with Bruce? Using him as a way to show Bruce that he could be good? Bringing him in on missions so he could tell Bruce that the prodigal son wasn’t fucking things up again? God, he was so stupid. How could he have not known all of this?

“So, was that what all this was?”

He seems to get Jason’s attention at that. “What do you mean?”

“Asking me to come on missions, hanging out, the Baby Yoda memes? It was all to get back on Bruce’s good side, wasn’t it?”

“Fuck you. I don’t need to prove shit to Bruce.”

“So what was it then? Because you never seemed to give a flying fuck about my opinion before!” Dick’s beginning to see red. How had he been so blind?

“Why is it so hard for you to think that maybe there’s no ulterior motive here? God, you sound just like him, brainwashed into thinking every fucking thing that happens in this world somehow links back to him.”

“Don’t act like it’s beneath you. You’ve done much worse, Jason. I know what happened with Bunker. Tim said he’s ready to write you off.”

“Then let him! I don’t care about Tim or Bruce or anyone! Jesus, Dick, I just wanted to spend time with you.”

Dick deflates a little at that. Is he being sincere? Or is it just another trick?

“How can I trust you?”

Jason scoffs. “I love the way you turn this around on me, like Bruce isn’t in the fucking wrong for beating up his own son.”

“No one said he’s not. But I need to know that you haven’t been using me.”

“For the love of- here.”

Jason pulls out his phone and begins looking for something, much to Dick’s confusion. As soon as he seems to find what he’s looking for, he tosses it over for Dick to see.

It’s an email confirmation. “ _ Baby Yoda Funko Pop Pre-Order Confirmation. Estimated Delivery: May 27.”  _ And below that is Dick’s address with a delivery note.

“ _ Cute, baby yoda is, but much cuter, you are. -Jason _ ”

Well now Dick feels, well, like a dick. He’s determined to fix this.

He stands, walking to give the phone back to Jason, who can’t seem to make eye contact with him. A blush has blossomed over his face, and Dick just can’t handle it anymore.

“See, I told you-”

But Dick pushes the phone back into his hand before kissing him to shut up. He really fucked up, and he needs Jason to know that. Jason seems surprised at first, then grips his waist tightly as he kisses him back, all sorts of sweet that Dick hadn’t been expecting.

Jason is just one huge surprise after another these days.

When Dick breaks the kiss, he realizes his arms are around Jason’s neck, and they’re flush against each other. He’s warmer than he has been in a while, and he feels his cheeks break into a dopey smile.

“I’m...sorry. Honestly, I only got so worked up because, well…”

“I think I got it, Dickie.”

Jason kisses him again, and Dick pushes forward so he can deepen it.

No, Jason won’t be alone again. And neither will he.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone's wondering, the burritos they eat are based off this place by the same name near my house. I swear, you can get straight diabetes from those things.   
> I threw away current Dick Grayson canon because, well, fuck that. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!


End file.
